The End of the World (as We Know It)? – Cultural Ways of Worldmaking in Contemporary Post-Apocalyptic Narratives
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Marion Gymnich
Abstract
The article explores the functions of selected post-apocalyptic narratives, i.e., of stories that can be categorized as a specific subset of ‘narratives of catastrophe’ on the basis of the criteria defined by Ansgar Nünning. Novels, films, TV series, and videogames about the end of the world as we know it have become increasingly popular across different media. The functions of this type of narrative arguably go a long way towards accounting for its striking popularity, and a comparison with older post-apocalyptic narratives in fact suggests a shift in terms of the functions of the genre in recent years. In contrast to ‘last man’ stories of the nineteenth century, the 1950s, and the 1960s, many contemporary postapocalyptic narratives can be read as stories of survival. The notion of ‘narratives as cultural ways of worldmaking’ as described by Ansgar Nünning is an ideal framework for exploring the meaning-making processes that are at work in the different types of post-apocalyptic story with a view to their cultural relevance. In addition, drawing upon the concept of ‘obligation-worlds’ developed by Marie- Laure Ryan in the framework of narrative semantics allows a scrutiny of the moral implications of post-apocalyptic stories and provides a link to narrative ethics.
Abstract
The article explores the functions of selected post-apocalyptic narratives, i.e., of stories that can be categorized as a specific subset of ‘narratives of catastrophe’ on the basis of the criteria defined by Ansgar Nünning. Novels, films, TV series, and videogames about the end of the world as we know it have become increasingly popular across different media. The functions of this type of narrative arguably go a long way towards accounting for its striking popularity, and a comparison with older post-apocalyptic narratives in fact suggests a shift in terms of the functions of the genre in recent years. In contrast to ‘last man’ stories of the nineteenth century, the 1950s, and the 1960s, many contemporary postapocalyptic narratives can be read as stories of survival. The notion of ‘narratives as cultural ways of worldmaking’ as described by Ansgar Nünning is an ideal framework for exploring the meaning-making processes that are at work in the different types of post-apocalyptic story with a view to their cultural relevance. In addition, drawing upon the concept of ‘obligation-worlds’ developed by Marie- Laure Ryan in the framework of narrative semantics allows a scrutiny of the moral implications of post-apocalyptic stories and provides a link to narrative ethics.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Contents v
- A Tale of Two Concepts: Ansgar Nünning at Sixty 1
- Stories of Dangerous Life in the Post- Trauma Age: Toward a Cultural Narratology of Resilience 15
- Mind the Narratives: Towards a Cultural Narratology of Attention 37
- The End of the World (as We Know It)? – Cultural Ways of Worldmaking in Contemporary Post-Apocalyptic Narratives 57
- Plumbing Distant Spatiotemporal Scales: Towards an Econarratology of Planetary Memory in Narratives of the Global South 75
- Narrative Forms in the Age of the Anthropocene: Negotiating Human-Nonhuman Relations in Global South Novels 91
- Fact, Fiction, and Everything in-between: Strategies of Reader Activation in Postcolonial Graphic Narratives 109
- ‘It’s Not Our Opinion, It’s the Opinion of Our Roles’ – Fremdverstehen Revisited or: Where Foreign Language Education and Narratology Can Meet 129
- Narrative and Visual Resources of Culture in Contemporary Indigenous Children’s Books from Australia 149
- Troubling Justice: Narratives of Revenge 165
- Erin Burnett in Mali: Bardic Television and the Genealogy of Cultural Narratology 185
- New Media Narratives: Olivia Sudjic’s Sympathy and Identity in the Digital Age 199
- The ‘Death’ of the Unreliable Narrator: Toward a Functional History of Narrative Unreliability 215
- Odyssean Travels: The Migration of Narrative Form (Homer – Lamb – Joyce) 241
- A European Storyteller? Collective Narration in John Berger’s Into Their Labours 269
- Brexit as Cultural Performance: Towards a Narratology of Social Drama 293
- Contributors 321
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Contents v
- A Tale of Two Concepts: Ansgar Nünning at Sixty 1
- Stories of Dangerous Life in the Post- Trauma Age: Toward a Cultural Narratology of Resilience 15
- Mind the Narratives: Towards a Cultural Narratology of Attention 37
- The End of the World (as We Know It)? – Cultural Ways of Worldmaking in Contemporary Post-Apocalyptic Narratives 57
- Plumbing Distant Spatiotemporal Scales: Towards an Econarratology of Planetary Memory in Narratives of the Global South 75
- Narrative Forms in the Age of the Anthropocene: Negotiating Human-Nonhuman Relations in Global South Novels 91
- Fact, Fiction, and Everything in-between: Strategies of Reader Activation in Postcolonial Graphic Narratives 109
- ‘It’s Not Our Opinion, It’s the Opinion of Our Roles’ – Fremdverstehen Revisited or: Where Foreign Language Education and Narratology Can Meet 129
- Narrative and Visual Resources of Culture in Contemporary Indigenous Children’s Books from Australia 149
- Troubling Justice: Narratives of Revenge 165
- Erin Burnett in Mali: Bardic Television and the Genealogy of Cultural Narratology 185
- New Media Narratives: Olivia Sudjic’s Sympathy and Identity in the Digital Age 199
- The ‘Death’ of the Unreliable Narrator: Toward a Functional History of Narrative Unreliability 215
- Odyssean Travels: The Migration of Narrative Form (Homer – Lamb – Joyce) 241
- A European Storyteller? Collective Narration in John Berger’s Into Their Labours 269
- Brexit as Cultural Performance: Towards a Narratology of Social Drama 293
- Contributors 321
